warriorsfanficfandomcom-20200213-history
Darker than Shadows
s h a d o w s |Midnight | c o n t e s t e n t r y f o r Blade Death lurks. Why me… why my mate? Cats drop dead or they come in the clan, severely wounded. The healer's den is overrun. Who is under all this mess? Who is in charge of this? I might be the only one left. c h a p t e r o n e Wails filled the air. The rogue camp smelled like the old rotten dead prey that the worst apprentice had caught. Warm blood littered the ground. The two healers was frantically trying to revive some cats. But some, I knew there is no going back. How can I stop this? A cold snarl catches my breath. "The world is mine." ---- I wake up screaming in the nursery. Luckily, I was the only one there. No one was in the nursery. I figured that they all went outside. I patted outside, seeing my two kits playing a rough game of catching tails. I was about to warn them but I can't myself. This is a rogue camp, not WindClan where I was exiled. This was the closest place to home. The only place I could go. And everything was more rough here. Kits get apprenticed at the age of four moons, instead of six. And my kits are about that age. "Nightwhisper!" That voice sounded so familiar to the voice in my dream. And one of those bodies looked familiar. One of those bodies were my kits, Mint and Blossom. I froze. Please StarClan, if you are there please answer this prayer. Please don't let that dream be true. "Nightwhisper! Please come! Whitefern and Briarclaw found this…" the voice faltered. My head whipped around, seeing a white she cat with eyes green as the grass. My sister who look like the complete opposite of me is here. She was exiled with me. "Iceshadow, what is wrong?" I asked, frantically. Iceshadow just shook her head. "I found a body… well, Whitefern found it but… it looks like X." Many of the rogues here in this camp was from the clans, casted away. I was surprised to see the infamous Whitefern who murdered Shiverpelt or Briarclaw who attempted to murder Olivestar. And they are perfectly normal. But I have doubts about them. But some of the cats here are just loners who needed a place. Like my mate. His name was X. Pretty weird but he is perfect. He made me find a place when I was lost. My eyes were wild. Where should we go? We didn't have a place to go. But Iceshadow's eyes were bright. "There is a cat over there. Do you see him, Nightwhisper? A cat means a place to stay," Iceshadow was saying. ''My eyes flickered over a lean figure in the distance. "Him?" "Yes him. That cat. He might give us a place to stay. Or there is a camp," Iceshadow whispered excitedly. "A camp?" That was when that figure's eyes was towards us. I locked eye contact with his intense blue eyes. He darted towards us. He was out in the distance for one second, then he was next to us in a second. "Why are you here? If Whitefern catches you…" His voice was deep but his voice dropped lower. "…he will kill you." Who was he? What was his name? Questions burned in my throat. "What is your name?" "My name is X." "X?" My voice started rising higher and higher. X acted a little weird in the past hour or so. He was stumbling around before he staggered in the woods. The healer told me it was just a stomachache and he gave him some juniper berries. "Yes, X. Come on, we need to go," Iceshadow said, exasperated. She usually didn't act like this. I hesitantly left the hollow and followed Iceshadow. She acted weird lately. She woke up later, she had more "thorns" in her paws than usual. That type of stuff. We arrived in the deep forest, some time later. Whitefern and Briarclaw was hunched over a body. I heard Whitefern murmur, "A violent but quick death indeed." "Hello, Whitefern. Did you find the identity?" Iceshadow asked somewhat calmly. But looking at the black body, the broken tail, and the pale spot on the victim's chest, I already knew the answer. I raised my paws to keep Whitefern from answering. But it didn't work. Please StarClan, please. "We did find his identity. He is—" Please make it be his brother. "—X." ---- How do I bear the burden? How? X is dead. I saw Mint running up towards me. I know I am not allowed to have favorites but she was my favorite kit. No, Branch was my favorite kit but after his death, Mint became my favorite. Mint and Branch was identical. I always go them mixed up but I knew who Mint was by her voice. Branch's voice was low and raspy; Mint's voice had a slight lisp to it. I named Mint after my dead littermate, Mintpelt. And I named Branch after his crooked tail, the same crooked tail that X has. Although Branch looks a little more like X, they both resemble X enough for me to get confused which is which. I missed Branch and X so much that my heart hurts. I wished that Branch didn't die from that bout of greencough. What about Blossom? X named Blossom, thinking that the dash of white on her foot looked like a blossom. It sort of does. Blossom is the "Know it All" type of cat. I am proud of both Mint and Blossom but I like Mint better. Mothers aren't supposed to have favorites. "Mummy!" I felt Mint crash into me as we fell, together. "Mummy! Patchie told me that you went into the foreth! Where is father?" She pointed towards Patchtalon. X. How can I explain? "Your father? You mean, X?" X was gone. Just gone. Out of this world. How can I ever explain this? "Yes, Nightwhisper." "X is dead." I saw the shock spread everywhere on her face. Her face got redder and redder before she just ran. I didn't know how much X means to her. Loosing X hurts. No, I am wrong. It doesn't hurt. It is more than hurt. It feels like you lost a part of my body. X was part of me. I loved him. More than ever. But I have a second kit to tell. I have a kit to tell the loss. How can I cope without him? I saw Whitefern drag X's body towards the middle of camp. They don't do vigils here. I saw the leader of the camp, Rain, drag her body towards the middle of camp, Briarclaw next to her. "How are you feeling, Nightwhisper?" Briarclaw called out. I wanted to say that I was more than grieving for him. I am crumbling. But I lied, "Fine!" Rain's helpless legs was splayed out. They looked sleek and healthy but they were useless in the inside. Rain's dark gray body was next to Briarclaw's and he was helping her move. I didn't know how an invalid, no a different as Rain wants to be called, cat rose up to be leader. I knew a ThunderClan she cat named Squirrelpoppy whose grandmother was a she cat like Rain. Her name was Briarsun or something. But Rain as leader? But another thought washed over me. Rain should be fine. She should. I walked towards X's body. Iceshadow was already there, her former habits taking over her. X was next to me, his black pelt next to my black pelt. His breaths looks so comforting in the sunset. "This might be too early, Nightwhisper. We only knew each other for half a moon," X started to speak somewhat awkwardly. "What, X? I have something to say to you too," I interrupted him. "I love you." That was the word that gave me hope. It lighted my little candle, making it bigger and bigger. I was afraid that X loved Iceshadow. I searched his expression in the moonlight to see anything that he wasn't joking. But he knew what I was doing. "Hey, Nightwhisper, I am an empty cat. I have nothing hiding," X said as he smiled sweetly. He leaned close as he licked my cheek, ever so slightly. "Tell me your secret, little Nighty." That made me blush even more. "Well…this might be too early too." "I don't care if it is too early, Nightwhisper." "I am having your kits." His black body looked like it was sleeping. The thing that I don't like about death is that they make it look like the victim is resting. Sleeping. It looks like they are going to wake up soon. I was about to dive my nose against his fur to hide my tears but another claw wrenched it out of my hand. "Time to bury that mouse brained X." I glared at him bit he didn't do anything. It was X's brother, the pain in the tail. Fire was the biggest pain in the world. I bit back a sharp remark. Then there was that piercing screech that fill the air and I just had time to see Rain collapsing to the ground. c h a p t e r t w o My feet started running towards Rain. She just collapsed, suddenly. Then I saw the damage. Blood was starting to run down her chest. I saw the damage. Two perfectly small holes was pierced on her fur. Just two. It didn't look deep. I was first trained to be a medicine cat before my mentor saw that it was best for me to train as a warrior. Even though it didn't look deep, I knew the real damage. It could have punctured a major organ. Rain started gasping for help. What should I do? What can I do? The pain was unbearable. One perfect kit was next to me and the healer started to lick that one. "Just relax. I feel three other kits wiggling out." Relax? I can't relax. Dots danced in my eyes as I did my final push. It may be my last. I glanced down and I immediately wished that I didn't. I gave birth to the runt. He was tinier than his sister and his breath was getting shallower. "Healer! Lick Reese!" Before I knew it, I gave a name for my runt. I had a friend in the Twolegplace, a long time ago. We never got past the "friend" stage but we were close. It was when I was an apprentice, only Nightpaw. He saved my life though. He did, truly did. And he died, run over by the monster. He pushed me away from the upcoming monster but he didn't have time to get out. His last words was, "Make my life count, Nightpaw." And I promised to make a tribute for him. And I did. His name was Reese. Absorbed in my thoughts, I didn't notice the sudden jolt of pain. Then a stronger one. "Two kits are in there. I can feel a she cat and one other tom." When will this endless pain end? How can cats die suddenly? I don't know. I truly don't know. StarClan, please be with me tonight... ----